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2024 Advent Newsletter - Hear from each of Harbor's Pastoral Team
This season our Pastoral Team ....
Many of us have been given a lot of words for the beginning of our lives. Lots of rules, lots of things to look out for, lots of things to avoid, to make sure about, to not forget, and on and on. Lots of words that we are supposed to somehow memorize and know and pull out at just the right moment of our complicated lives. This is well meaning on the part of our loved ones, our caretakers, our teachers, and our friends. It is well meaning, but it is also stressful. We may ask ourselves, am I getting it right? Did I miss something? Forget something? And our minds are spinning again with lots of words.
But this season, we are going to do our best to quiet the voices and the words in our minds and to focus on simple words that direct us back to the beginning, back to the truth of who and what we are. Our Advent study is broken into seven weeks, and each week has wisdom for us that is simple, clear, and authentic. These seven messages are a place for all of us to begin to consider a new beginning, a new way of forming ourselves and our world in gentleness, in quiet.
We’ll begin our study with the thematic reminder that you are a blessing! All good teaching stems from this universal truth, that each one of us is a blessing. Each one of us is able to bless others, and to bless our sacred earth.
Then we’ll move into a week of exploring our walk with Jesus and the fact that no matter how hard we may try, we can’t go alone. Some things in our lives are meant to be done in solitude, and that aloneness is also a blessing. But this walk with Jesus requires that we walk in community, together. Why? Because each one of us is a blessing. Your gifts are what I need. And my gifts are what you need. How can any of us be a blessing if we have nowhere to practice offering our blessing?
Our third week will remind us that there are many things in the world that are painful and need care and love. Many, many, many things that are in need of blessing. What can we do when we are overwhelmed by all the needs in the world? The only sane and effective response is quite simple: do the good that is yours to do. What if every single one of us did the good right in front of us, trusting that others are doing the good right in front of them? What if we just got busy doing the good right here and now instead of worrying or blaming or judging what good ought to be done somewhere else? All you can ever do is within you and right in front of you. This week will help us cut through the clutter of need in the world to identify our own authentic way of offering our blessings as individuals and as a community.
In our fourth week, we will encounter the reality that there are dangerous and scary things in our world. But no matter how scary things become, we can count on the fact that hope is always worth the risk. When all seems lost or broken, it is our hope that will guide us, like the star that rested over Bethlehem. Hope doesn’t have to be loud or angry, or even righteous. Hope is the light that we fix ourselves on as we struggle with the next step. Hope keeps us looking up to remind us that even when our next step is tedious and overwhelming, there is a star in the sky, guiding us silently and brilliantly. Hope is what brings us through and hope is kindled in community with one another.
On Christmas Eve, we will remind ourselves that love knows our names. Love can’t fix all the problems, but love knows us deeply. Love is the starting point, the thing we ought to wrap ourselves in. Love is connected to blessing because when we love one another we pour our blessing onto one another. Imagine the hope of Mary, risking everything to birth a new possibility. Imagine her love holding a precious child, surrounding him with warmth and blessing. Imagine her speaking her son’s name to him for the first time. Imagine. Imagine that that love and those words for the beginning are for you too. You too are loved beyond reason. You too are beloved. You too are a blessing. You too are hope; and you too are always worth the risk.
The first Sunday after Christmas will be a time that we don’t forget to laugh. The Christmas story is a very raw story, and we don’t always stop to wonder about the joy of it all. We treat it with reverence, and there often doesn’t feel like there is any room for laughter. But this year, we will wonder at all of the joy and silliness that would have been. I wonder what funny smells and sounds the holy family experienced. I wonder what private laugh was shared between Mary and Joseph, maybe even their special visitors. I wonder how the animals played a part in those first days and I imagine they brought joy and levity as our animals often do. As we wonder about the joy of the holy family, we’ll remind ourselves that this joy is for us too, it’s our blessing too, our birthright too. And no one can take it from us.
And finally, our Epiphany Sunday will ground us after our Sunday of laughter, reminding us that the road isn’t straight. The road is what it is. Let’s stop wasting our energy and joy trying to straighten things that are meant to curve and meander. Why would we want to walk this path in a straight line? Isn’t it more interesting to wander through valleys and mountains, to marvel at what might be just around to bend, to take a nap on the bank of a gentle river, to climb the side of a rock just because, to gather with our beloved ones in a field to share food and life? This road is a wandering road. This road is filled with life, with an abundance of life. And this road, we navigate it better together, offering our blessings along the way.
I hope you’ll join us for our study this season. I hope you’ll see that these words for the beginning are not what we were told. These words for the beginning are not complicated, they aren’t tedious, they don’t require us to do all the things. These words for the beginning are precious and true. These words for the beginning are yours, and they’re mine. They are for sharing. This season, I hope you know:
You are a blessing.
We can’t go alone.
Do the good that is yours to do.
Hope is worth the risk.
Love knows your name.
Don’t forget to laugh.
And the road isn’t straight.
Let’s walk it together. May it be so.
- Pastor Sadie Cullumber
As we enter the Advent season, one year is coming to a close and a new one is right around the corner. New possibilities, new insights and new beginnings are always available to us. All we need is intention, curiosity and a desire for change. That is why I love the theme of our Advent study this year, Words for the Beginning: Advent reminders for new seasons. The message each week is simple yet powerful. Simple reminders about how we are all children of God and that we are in this walk together.
The first few weeks we talk about how we are all a blessing from God just the way we are. There is nothing any of us need to do to be blessed by God. We are all blessed simply by being. That message is followed by one of my favorite themes about being a Christian and follower of Jesus. We can’t do this walk alone. We are supposed to be followers of the way within community. I know personally for me that being a part of the Harbor community has been instrumental in my spiritual growth. The access to love and wisdom and understanding from this community has been and continues to be a huge source of strength.
During the upcoming Advent season we will touch on the truth that we are all asked to do the good that we can do. None of us can solve the world’s problems but we can make an impact on those closest to us through a simple gesture or word of encouragement. When we are walking in the way of Jesus, doing the good works we all can do, we inspire hope and love in others. That is the teaching of Jesus. Be the love and hope that this world needs by being our authentic selves. This is how we all help to build the Kingdom of God right here and now.
Our advent season will end with the important truth that our paths are never straight. There will be bumps and sharp turns in the road as we walk and live authentically as followers of Jesus. I know that I have become frustrated when the walk gets hard, when what is asked and expected of me is out of my comfort zone. But I believe if we are too comfortable that we are not walking truly in the way. This path can be hard and challenging but also immeasurably beautiful and live giving. That is why it is important to laugh and embrace joy when it comes into our lives. This life is expansive and includes the challenging parts of life but also the beautiful and joyful parts as well.
As we enter Advent let us embrace the walk and way of Jesus. Let us not forget we are all a blessing and that we are in a community that is here to support and hold us in the tough times. But our community is also a place of laughter and joy. I am excited for Advent and the Christmas season and look forward to sharing it with you all.
- Pastor Ryan Cullumber
I have always hated math. And I'm sure math hates me too. When I see big numbers, it's like they all start to swim and swirl together. Math was my worst subject in every single grade and I almost didn't get to graduate high school because of it (shout out to Ms. Doan for being kind enough to give me the minimal passing grade). I am SO bad at math, that if the only thing I was ever judged on in this world, it would seem that I am a pretty lousy person. Thankfully, I am not judged by God for it nor is my value based on my ability to do math. Why? Because I have my very own set of special skills and talents that I AM good at.
One of the weekly themes in this upcoming curriculum that I resonated the most with is “Do the good that is yours to do”. This is a comforting reminder because I don't have to feel like I have to fix every problem in the world and I don't have to do any of this alone. I think we can all agree that there is so much need in this world. To be even more specific, there's so much need in our country, states, and even in our own community. But how do we move forward with making real change without becoming so incredibly overwhelmed that we end up stuck and unable to help at all? It starts with picking one or two things we can focus on. Not every person can tackle every issue, so you find something that is near and dear to your heart. You create a plan to have a few things you can do to help, maybe bring in friends on a project or research local organizations already doing the work that need support, and you step in where you can. When you bring friends in to help, or join a group, you realize that together we can do so much more than any one of us alone. You also start to see how when we work as one body, each person's individual skills and talents are used. Those two things give us hope that we aren't the only ones wanting to do good in the world and that encourages us to keep moving forward.
Church, if you have ever felt overwhelmed, and then felt like “ What can I do? I'm just one person!” I get you. I've been there and I've also been the one trying to do everything and then ending up stuck. When we remember that we are called to be the Body of Christ, meaning that we each have our function and that each one is incredibly important, then we find the ways that we are able to do the good that is ours to do. Without the stress or pressure, but instead in hope and encouragement. I hope that you are able to move into this season and this new year with that reminder. Yes, there is work to do. But thankfully, we have each other to get through it together.
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